Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was sentenced this morning to 23 months in federal prison. Under federal law, he'll have to serve 85 percent of his sentence and he'll be eligible to spend the last month of the sentence in a halfway house. Overall, he's likely to get out of prison some time in the spring or summer of 2009 -- early enough in the year that he could report in time for an NFL training camp.
But that's not going to happen. Vick is currently serving an "indefinite" suspension, courtesy of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell. And although at some point Goodell is likely to change "indefinite" to a specific period of time, there's no way Goodell wants Vick walking out of prison and into an NFL team's practice facility. I'd be shocked if Vick isn't suspended for at least a full year beyond his prison term.
That means he's going to miss a bare minimum of three full NFL seasons, and at that point, I just don't see any team wanting him. By the time training camps open for the 2010 season, Vick will be 30 years old, rusty as a passer, and guaranteed to turn whatever training camp he plays in into a circus. NFL coaches just don't want to deal with a player like that.
Vick will be a free man in a year and a half. But he won't be an NFL player ever again.
